


Hazawa-Brand 100% Certified Organic Slow-Roast Coffee

by Symantra



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: (At least for Tsugu it was), Didn't Know They Were Dating, F/F, Fluff, Holding Hands, Light-Hearted, Romance, Slow Burn, Summer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:47:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25321870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Symantra/pseuds/Symantra
Summary: Tsugumi Hazawa was a reasonably patient person. But waiting for Sayo to call her by her first name was the longest she had ever had to wait for anything.There had better be one divine-tasting cup of slow-roasted coffee at the end of it.
Relationships: Hazawa Tsugumi/Hikawa Sayo
Comments: 18
Kudos: 115
Collections: Free Story Sundays





	Hazawa-Brand 100% Certified Organic Slow-Roast Coffee

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SakuraLilly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakuraLilly/gifts).



With all the Hazawa-sans flying around, one would have assumed Tsugumi and Sayo to be the best of friends. It was like Sayo couldn't let go of her name even in a one-to-one conversation. Good morning Hazawa-san. How is keyboard practice coming along, Hazawa-san? May I come to the cafe today, Hazawa-san?

Hazawa-san this, Hazawa-san that. Hazawa-san, Hazawa-san, Hazawa-san—

"For the love of coffee, why won't she just call me TSUGU?!"

The coffee maker finally dinged. Tsugumi got up and lurched over to the counter. She removed the pot and poured herself a cup of her family's own brand of homemade summer-blend slow roast, then she plopped back into her cafe chair with a groan.

"I just don't get it." Her head drooped until her forehead hit the table with a light _thunk_. The lights hanging from the ceiling beams swayed gently in response, mocking her with an equanimity she wished she could have known right now.

"Wow." Ran watched the lights until they stopped swaying. "You're really mad about this."

For once, Tsugumi felt a sarcastic response bubbling forth, but she slammed a lid over it. Ran really hadn't done anything wrong; Tsugumi loved her to death, but she was just at the end of her rope.

She usually tried to avoid complaining about her problems, especially to other people. But with this particular Sayo-related matter, her patience had all but boiled away. She had just spent a whole 3 minutes and 12 seconds ranting to Afterglow while they were visiting the cafe in the morning to hang out—a new personal record, not that she spent much of her time complaining.

"Just how close are you two, anyway?" Himari asked, an undisguisable curiosity in her voice. "Are you two like, going out?"

"No... Well, kinda?"

Tsugumi folded her arms and fixed her attention on a knot in the table's wood. She could feel the others' eyes on her as they waited for her to explain. "How do I put it? Sayo and I are close enough that it feels like we're going out, but at the same time, it has the vibes of us just being girls who are friends than girls who may be girlfriends."

"Mhm, mhm." Himari followed closely along. "Oh, is it like you're doing girlfriend things but you never call each other girlfriends?"

Tsugumi sat up. She had known Himari if no one else would get her. "Yeah, like that. Exactly like that, actually.

"She's literally told me that she likes me in a way she doesn't feel about the members of Roselia. But the way she normally talks just makes it sound like it isn't a romantic thing. Like, half of the time I don't know if we're going on dates or just hanging out. We literally invite each other out and dress up and then go to eat or see movies and stuff, but we don't really hold hands or anything like that. I've touched her arm before and she didn't mind, but she's never tried to touch me or anything. Yet just when I've decided it isn't a date and we're just good friends she goes and says something like 'Let's do this again Hazawa-san' and 'I had fun today Hazawa-san' and makes me rethink everything I thought I understood, and I just—I just—gaaahhh!"

She slumped down in her seat again. "I don't even have any real evidence that she likes me. Maybe it really was all in my imagination. I guess I just wanted to think that I'd finally met someone who sees me as more than a friend. But I think I really am just Hazawa-san to her."

"Tsugu..." Himari's face fell. Tsugumi felt bad, because she knew Himari felt bad for her.

Sitting at the nearest table, Ran sighed.

"Tsugumi, she's definitely fond of you, okay? You know, the one time I tried talking to her, she asked me if I had nothing better to do. Roselia is annoying like that."

"You say that, but I know you secretly enjoy arguing with—"

"Shut. Up."

Moca's smile only grew wider as Ran glowered at her.

"But when _you_ talk to her," Ran began, turning back to Tsugumi. "It's like she actually seems to be enjoying someone's company for once. She isn't get mad if you just ask her about it."

Tsugumi listened, thinking about what Sayo's usual expressions were like. Tired, determined, content, disgruntled. When she thought about how Sayo usually smiled when she said Hazawa-san, Ran's words suddenly became much more reasonable.

But Sayo seemed so happy calling her Hazawa-san. Who was Tsugumi to deprive her of that?

She told herself she didn't mind being called Hazawa-san. Her name was something she was proud of. Sometimes people recognized her name from the coffee shop when they talked to her, and she loved that.

She told herself she didn't mind, but the fact that Sayo was calling her Hazawa-san after almost an entire year still made her heart feel heavy. Soon it would be the anniversary of their chance encounter at that cooking class.

Since then, Sayo had become a regular customer at the cafe. She had started coming to her for hobby advice every so often, and they could talk for up to an hour about those kinds of domestic affairs. Tsugumi never would have thought Sayo would take so much interest in them.

Sayo had also started sending her warm, encouraging texts at random, offering her help for 'whenever she was having any difficulties.' She had literally volunteered to work part-time at the cafe to help her out.

And yet after all that—all that—she was still just Hazawa-san.

She sighed and slouched down even further, her eyes coming level with her coffee. "I feel a little petty now that I'm thinking about it. It's not like it changes our relationship, so it shouldn't matter. I—"

Himari lunged across a surprised Moca to pull her up and clasp her hand in both of hers. Tsugumi jumped as if Himari had snapped her out of the negative. "No Tsugu! You're very valid! The way someone calls you is definitely important, and you deserve to have control over that."

"Himari's right," Tomoe agreed. She had looked lost through most of this—matters of the heart were her self-proclaimed weakest suit. "You gotta tell her how she should call you. Maybe she thinks you prefer your last name or something."

"But I've been calling her Sayo for months now!"

"See? Then she's probably cool calling you Tsugu." Tomoe gave her a thumbs-up that was supposed to be motivational. Tsugumi wished she could have as much confidence.

"I don't know. Wouldn't it be rude to ask?" Tsugumi imagined Sayo's expression shifting in her head and bit her lip.

"Never know until you try!"

"Come on, Tsugu!" Himari gripped her hand. The entirety of Afterglow nodded their approval behind her.

Tsugumi breathed in and sat up straight. "Okay," she exhaled. "I'll give it a shot."

"That's our Tsugu!"

\-------

You didn't have to go all the way to Okinawa for a beach day. There were plenty of small beaches not too far from Tokyo, and many of them were bordered by small towns perfect for drinking in the allure of summer at a distance from all the sand and water.

Inviting Sayo out had been easy enough. And, to make it even easier, Sayo had accepted—easily. It had all been so simple: an invitation over text and a bit of schedule adjustment (Tsugumi had an afternoon shift, so they were meeting later). Her standard routine followed, of setting her clothes out the night before and glaring at her hair in the morning and making sure she had enough money in her wallet before she left.

Everything, including Tsugumi's plan to wait for Sayo to call her Hazawa-san before casually saying it was okay to use her first name, was easy.

The instant Sayo showed up, the plan went from lemon-squeezy to something a bit more complicated.

Before this moment, Tsugumi wouldn't have believed that Sayo owned a dress like the one she was wearing now—red with gold trim, tied with a wide red sash. Her hair was in its usual style, but held back by a black headband set with a headpiece of roses and lace. Three gold bangles dangling from her wrists clinked as she waved.

Even her black bra had gold embroidery across the top of it, though by the time Tsugumi noticed, her brain functions were already at half capacity and couldn't possibly go any lower.

"A-ahem. Hazawa-san." Sayo, pink, closed her eyes and covered her mouth with a bent finger. "Good evening."

Instead of stick to the plan, Tsugumi stammered out an apology for staring before babbling out compliments. "You look great today Sayo! Oh my god. Your dress is just, wow."

"Thank you. I'm glad you approve." Sayo smiled and fingered a pair of black beaded necklaces around her neck. "Shirokane-san made this dress for me last summer. To tell you the truth, I haven't known many appropriate situations for it since."

Tsugumi watched her play with the necklace, which rested perfectly in the center of her neckline. Sayo was murderously attractive, but she didn't even seem to realize.

It took Tsugumi a few seconds to realize that Sayo had averted her eyes and was looking around at some of the buildings around their meeting place.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make it awkward." Tsugumi bowed her head slightly.

"It's no problem."

"Did you wanna walk around a bit and see what's nearby?"

"That would be nice. I'd like to know if anything has changed since I was here last."

Sayo came to stand beside her, and they started down the sidewalk. Nearly all of the town faced the sea, because it would be a shame not to.

The two peeked through shop windows and into food vendors, all while catching glimpses of blue between the buildings.

"By the way, Hazawa-san. You look beautiful today."

Tsugumi immediately felt her heart throb. She thought she might die from the compliment, but somehow she stayed standing. Still, she was too flustered to put the Anti-Hazawa-san Plan into motion, so she pushed the thought away for now.

"Your dress is very fitting; white looks good on you," Sayo went on, looking directly at her and her dress. "And I appreciate the attention you gave to your hair as well."

"Please, you're making me blush!" Tsugumi giggled.

"I'm just telling the truth." Sayo smiled as if Tsugumi's reaction was what she had been after the whole time.

Tsugumi put one hand over her chest and one on her cheek. She still had a pulse, though it was dangerously high. Her cheek burned. So she wasn't dead; this was the real Sayo telling her she was beautiful and saying she meant it.

Did her hair really look different today? Tsugumi hadn't thought much about it, but now she was glad for the extra few minutes that had gone into her morning primping.

"You're forward today." Her heart beat fast. Sayo looked at her, appraising her for a moment.

"Recently, someone told me the importance of vocalizing my feelings so others know how I feel about them," she said.

The rest of the walk was a daze. Tsugumi burned up with the unspoken meaning of her words. Her answer wasn't some kind of coincidence, right? If Sayo wanted her to know how she felt, and that was how she felt...

Sayo commented on things around them as they walked. Things like the expensive clothing they saw in one of the stores or the smell of okonomiyaki wafting from an open stall. Tsugumi felt as if she was just floating after her like a balloon on a string, a little helpless and blissfully light-headed.

She was still going to tell Sayo. But she wanted to pretend, even if it was just for a bit, that she was Sayo's girlfriend and this wasn't some kind of outing for best friends.

After exploring the entirety of the small town at leisure, a wide path led them to the beach. The sounds of people grew quite loud as they followed it to a sandy strip complete with a long bungalow serving refreshments to an even longer line of beachgoers.

"You don't usually come to these places, right Sayo?"

"No, not usually. When there's a social occasion, like with you or Roselia, I don't mind it at all. But I don't see much point to coming alone."

"Not into the idea of relaxing for an entire day?" Tsugumi gave her a little smile that Sayo returned. They both already knew the answer to that.

"I've far too many other things I could be doing than burying myself in sand for a full day."

Dodging around groups of tourists and high-school students, they managed to find a spot of beach away from the throngs of people. A hermit crab sensed their coming and scuttled away from Sayo's sandals into the waves.

"I'm glad you said I didn't need to bring a swimsuit if I didn't want to, Hazawa-san." Sayo glanced down and lifted her heel to nudge some sand off her toes.

Tsugumi started to reply before she remembered the plan. "S—"

But Sayo wasn't looking at her and Tsugumi had taken too long to interject, so she continued, oblivious. "I'm not too much a fan of swimming, even if it is good exercise. I hope staying out of the water doesn't detract from our experience."

"No, it doesn't at all." Regaining her composure, Tsugumi scratched her cheek. "If we went in the water, I would only embarrass myself anyway. I'm just okay at swimming."

Despite that, she slipped out of her sandals so she could walk into the tide. The sand, dark with water, cooled her feet.

Seeing her do this, Sayo took her own sandals off and walked over. They stood together. A wave swept up the sand and swirled about their ankles before surging back out to sea.

"Okay is good enough in this case, Hazawa-san," Sayo told her. "Well, as long as you don't plan to participate in any competitions."

"Oh god, no. I would pick something different to compete in."

"Would cooking be a good guess?"

"That's right! You learn a lot more from being in a cooking competition than you do from other competitions. When you get to see other people preparing their recipes..."

Their conversation burgeoned from there. They ended up talking until a low growl interrupted their conversation: Sayo's stomach was complaining because she hadn't fed it since lunch.

At first Sayo hesitated to abandon their spot on the beach, but Tsugumi would not hear it, so she dragged her by the arm until she came along willingly. Shoes squelching with every other step, they went all the way back to the other side of the beach and got in line at the snack bar, which was receiving even more attention now that the sun approached the horizon.

As they stood behind a small group of gradeschoolers and a tired-looking female chaperone, Tsugumi realized with horror that she had completely forgotten about her plan to get Sayo to call her by her first name. She had gotten so into their conversation that it had just slipped her mind.

"Please, don't fight," the chaperone called as two of her charges wrestled over an inner tube. One of them suddenly pushed, sending a kid flying into Sayo. The inner tube flew out of her grasp into Tsugumi's hands. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Please forgive us."

"It's fine." Sayo took the girl's shoulders and set her back on her balance. Tsugumi handed the inner tube over, and the woman bowed her head several times before herding the children in front of her.

"Please stop bothering the nice girls on their date," Tsugumi heard her whisper. Her breath caught, but she couldn't resist glancing at Sayo to see her reaction. Sayo looked forward as if she hadn't heard. Her cheeks were a bit pink from the sun.

Their day wasn't over yet though, so Tsugu still had a chance. As they sat down across from each other to enjoy their snack food—french fries and sweet potato fries, because Tsugumi knew how to please 'em—she resolved that the next time Sayo called her Hazawa-san, she would get her to call her Tsugu.

"Here, Hazawa-san." Sayo reached a finger-length sweet potato fry over the table. "Try this. It's better than the regular ones, isn't it?"

Tsugumi obediently opened her mouth to eat it.

"Wow! You're right!"

Correction—the next time after this, she would get Sayo to call her Tsugu.

They ate mostly in silence, with a few comments about fries and the temperature as the sun slid down into the hills beyond the far end of the beach. They finished and returned to walking along the beach.

Orange had started coloring the water and sky—Tsugumi's favorite time of day. Really, what self-respecting member of Afterglow didn't like sunset?

Most of the people close to the bungalow had packed up and left. Tsugumi and Sayo kept walking, uninterested in lounging on beach towels or sprinting into the ocean.

"Has it been 4 hours already?" Sayo asked. "It's already sunset."

"It's been four and a half," Tsugumi corrected with a look at her phone.

"I see. It feels like time passed quickly today."

"Do you have something to do after this?"

"Not particularly."

Tsugumi felt Sayo's fingers brush her hand. Her breath caught, but Sayo's hand retracted right away. An accident?

Her heart, which had jumped up in her chest, fell a little bit.

"Hazawa-san." There it was. "Thank you for inviting me out today. I've enjoyed it quite a bit."

Tsugumi steadied herself. She had to say something now. The crowded area was behind them, hardly anyone was around, and Sayo looked and sounded relaxed. There was no better time.

"Hazawa-san?"

"P-please..." Tsugumi took a deep breath so there was no way she could mumble. "Call me Tsugu, please."

Sayo stared for a full moment. Her eyes went big for a second, then narrow the next, before becoming big again.

"Is that okay? You don’t mind me calling you that?"

"You’ve let me call you Sayo for the past year, so of course it’s okay!” Tsugumi's voice came out a bit louder than she intended. "We've been going out—um, hanging out for a year now. I'd like it if you just called me Tsugu from now on. Everyone else does."

"No honorifics?" Tsugumi shook her head. Sayo looked away and rubbed the back of her neck.

"I see. Just Tsugu? Like that?"

She nodded, delighted. It sounded just as good as Hazawa-san. Better, even. Sayo turned away and looked toward the water, but Tsugumi caught her smiling.

Tsugumi looked down and watched their steps as they crossed the beach. Sunlight glinted off the sand, landing in her eyes and on Sayo's dress.

Sayo's dress?

Tsugumi followed her eyes and saw a speck of gold in the length of Sayo's skirt. It sparkled in the light, looking as if someone had pinched a star and sprinkled the stardust all over her.

Stars in a red sky—such a subtle but pretty detail that she hadn't noticed until now.

Tsugumi reached out and took Sayo's hand. Sayo's knuckles pressed against her palm like rhinestones.

"Ha—" Sayo froze and corrected herself. "Tsugu?"

"Can we hold hands for a bit, Sayo?" She looked down, hoping that if she did, Sayo wouldn't mind her silly smile. Hoping that if she whispered, Sayo wouldn't mind her being selfish about her name. Hoping that if her grip was soft enough, Sayo wouldn't mind Tsugu touching her hand. Hoping, hoping, hoping.

Sayo pulled her hand out of her grasp. Then she took her hand again, only this time, their palms were together.

"Yes," Sayo spoke after a few seconds. She looked away and up, as if she had seen something interesting in the sky that Tsugumi couldn’t. "That'd be nice, Tsugu."

Tsugumi smiled. A happy sound escaped her that Sayo definitely noticed. She didn’t really mind, nor did Sayo.

Then she faced forward, leaving a trail of footprints in the sand next to Sayo's.

Tsugumi Hazawa was a reasonably patient person. But waiting for Sayo to call her Tsugu was the longest she had ever had to wait for anything.

And it was the sweetest, most savory cup of slow-roasted coffee she had ever had.


End file.
